Children of Time, TARDISode 8: Fall Back
by Wholmes Productions
Summary: Still trapped in the Cardiff Rift, a despairing Doctor must find a way to keep himself from taking drastic action... Follow-on from 'The Dying Detective'.


_It's a question I often ask myself: what would I do with me? And I don't know the answer. I don't know what I'd do, except run away._

– Alexander Masters, Stuart: A Life Backwards

John Smith, aka the human incarnation of the Doctor, had long since decided that while the Time Lord afterlife could be better, it could also be worse. "You dream, most of the time," Doctor Number Eight had explained to him. He liked Eight the best out of the Doctor's various personalities—Eight was warm and friendly, and he sympathised with John's plight.

It was also John's understanding that the other personalities were sometimes aware of what was happening in the real world. Something about being brought on by stress… even Eight's patient explanation couldn't help John understand the mechanics of it.

Thus, he got the shock of his afterlife when the current Doctor stumbled into his dreamscape. The 'Tenth' Doctor. The one who wore John's face and John's body and spoke with his voice… and was sometimes similar but also completely different. The one John hadn't quite forgiven yet for even bringing him into existence in the first place.

But this time, Ten looked beaten. Well and truly. He was haggard and pale, eyes bloodshot and dull… and with streaks of dried blood on his right hand. John didn't want to guess what had happened there.

"I'm sorry," Ten rasped. "I know that doesn't mean much, but I _am_ sorry. And I need your help."

It was only the look in his eyes, the look of a man one step away from giving up on life completely, that kept John from laughing in his face. "With what? What's wrong? What happened to you?"

So Ten began his tale, haltingly, in the dull voice of someone who was in too much pain even to cry. But John did. Edward and James, or Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, John had loved his roommates dearly. His false memories had put the three of them as close pals for as long as he could remember.

And to find out that they weren't the only ones in over their heads, but that _Beth Lestrade_ was also in grave danger… "She's still just a kid!"

"I was aiming for her college years!"

"You didn't aim bloody well enough!"

Ten's voice was soft and lost. "I wanted better for her. I really did." He glanced up at John, meeting his eyes for only the second time throughout their conversation, then dropped his gaze again. "I know how much she meant to you."

John's incorporeal chest ached. Beth _had_ meant a lot to him; they'd already been on their way to forming one of those special teacher-student bonds that happens only once in a blue moon. He shook his head slowly. "Look, I don't want to hear anymore. What is it you want?"

Ten explained.

John stared at him. "So you're running. Again, you're running and hiding."

"What else am I supposed to do? There's nothing else I _can_ do—I am _worthless_ here. I can't help them!"

So it was either stay awake and go mad, literally, and probably kill himself… or sleep. John couldn't exactly say that he blamed Ten for not wanting to face the first option. "Fine. But this is the last time you use me to cover for you, got it?"

Ten nodded, the look of pure relief in his eyes almost making John like him. Almost.

"Go to sleep, Time Lord. You'll be all right."

* * *

 **Sky:** All right, I am _so sorry_ that it's taken so long for us to update! It's my fault—or rather, real life on my side of things, because it's just been really crazy lately. Plus, this wasn't an easy 500+ words to write. After almost a month of agonizing over it, all but the first paragraph came out of nowhere, literally overnight.

Poor John Smith. Whether it's our version or the original, he really got a raw deal, only a couple of months old at the most when he chose to die to save people.

 **Ria:** *hugs John and the Doctor* We got the impression from various sources that the Doctor's former personalities go dormant after a regeneration, rather than vanishing altogether. After all, if humans can remember the people they used to be, then why can't Time Lords take it up to the next level, storing those personalities away as backups in case of emergencies? Time Lord Psychology 101 must be a very interesting subject.

See you in Part Three, everyone!


End file.
